Improvement in tobacco pails or chests



JOHN STEELE.

lmprdvement in Tobacco Pails or Chests.

No. 126,340, Patented A mammz.

' a (9 M01652 I 6 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC JOHN STEELE, OF SHELDON, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN TOBACCO PAILS OR CHESTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 126,340, dated April 30, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN STEELE, of Sheldon, in the county of Iroquois and in the State of Illinois, have invented a Self-Damping Tobacco-Chest, or Oombined Chest, Cover, and Damping Device for Tobacco, &c.; and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawing making a part of this specification, in which like letters of reference refer to like parts, and in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view; Fig. 2, a vertical section'through line a. a, Fig. 1, the cover being closed.

This invention consists in providing a receptacle or store-box for tobacco or similar goods which require to be kept moist or damp, with a hinged cover on the under surface, to which is attached a perforated box containing awet sponge or other porous vehicle to retain water, which, by evaporation of said suspended water, will keep the article or goods contained in the receptacle regularly and continually damp.

A represents the chest, pail, or receptacle for the storage of tobacco or other article required to be kept damp. B is a cover having a hinge, by which it can be opened, but not taken off, as a removable cover would defeat the object in view by permitting the access of air to the contained article. To carry out the latter object still further the cover is made to close by springs d d, or a spring which forces the cover down when the same is released after raising it. C is a small box-perforated, if necessary, throughout-attached to the under side of the cover, which box may hold a wet sponge within it; or the box may be provided with a drawer, c, likewise perforated, which may hold the sponge. The operation of this device needs little explanation beyond what is developed above. The receptacle A may be filled with such goods as are liable to desiccation and best handled or sold in a moist condition, as tobacco. The cover B is so constructed as to close with a spring, and thus obviate the desiccation of the contained article by accidentally leaving the cover off. The box 0, being perforated and containing a wet sponge, suifers the evaporating water to im pregnate the goods below, and by which means the same can be kept at exactly the proper stage of dampness without recourse to flooding the goods with water, which would spoil them, and in hot weather mold them.

What I claim as my invention is- The combination of the receptacle A, the hinged lever B with springs d, and the spongereceptacle 0 attached to the cover, as and for the purposes described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing invention I have hereunto set my hand this 4th day of March, A. l). 1872.

JOHN STEELE.

Witnesses:

J AMES M. MORSE, J OHN MoNTAGUE. 

